Campus Life

Got eclipse questions? Eberly experts have the answers

What is an eclipse? What will totality look like? Can I photograph the solar eclipse with my smartphone? 

These are questions that individuals across North America may be asking in advance of the total solar eclipse that will cross the continent on Monday, April 8. Penn State Eberly College of Science experts answer these questions — and many more — in a series of social media videos.

In this video, Verne M. Willaman Dean Tracy Langkilde, who studies animal behavior, shares some ways that animals may act during a solar eclipse:

Find more videos with expert answers to questions about the eclipse on the Eberly College of Science 2024 Solar Eclipse Information website, Facebook page or Instagram page.

The Eberly College of Science is partnering with the State College Spikes to host SolarFest on Monday, April 8. The event, to be held at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the University Park campus, will feature a public eclipse viewing and science activities. Learn more about SolarFest

Other planned eclipse-viewing events at Penn State campuses include:

  • Penn State Altoona community viewing event, beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8, outside of the campus' Slep Student Center.
  • Penn State Behrend, which will be in the path of totality, will host a ticketed alumni and friends event as well as programming for invited K-12 students from surrounding communities and states. Public viewings of the eclipse will be available at various locations on campus as capacity allows. A talk by Darren Williams, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, will be livestreamed at noon.
  • Penn State Wilkes-Barre solar eclipse viewing party, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 8, at the campus' Nesbitt Academic Commons.

Student-run newscast "Centre County Report" will air a special edition at 3 p.m. Monday, April 8, providing coverage of the solar eclipse. One of the student teams from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications will be in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is the path of totality for the eclipse, and the other will report from SolarFest at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Read more about the "Centre County Report" eclipse coverage and find a link to the livestream here.

Last Updated April 4, 2024